Grease dispenser



Dec. 1, 1931. Q TERVQ 1,834,321

GREASE DISPENSER Filed Feb. 6. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 8 9 i I) n F1 2 l2 \nvenTor. Oscar Terv o 'byMMl M Patented Dec. 1, 1931 (UNITEDSTATES; PAT NT FF Y?" OSCAR 'rnnva or QUINCY, MAssAcHosEm'rs, Assrenon T WILFRED B. MA'rnEwson, I OENORTEWEYMOUTH,MASSACHUSETTS- *t GREASE DISPENSER lApflicatioit filed mamas, 1930. Serial No.426,236.

Thisinvention relates to grease dispensers ing grease and a pump within the container and by which the grease is dispensed there- 5 from. Such devices are commonly used in garages, fillingstations and the; like for sup plying grease or lubricant to the transmissions, differentials and other parts of automobiles. I 4 v In the operation of such a grease dispenser it is highly desirable that indication should be given when the grease 0r lubricant is substantially exhausted from the container for :when substantialexhaustion ofthe grease or lubricant occurs the .pump will not function properly and will not deliver a full supply of greasedueto the factthat the grease'is not freely delivered to the inlet of the pump.

g I have by ny present invention provided a 29 novel mieansvfor giving indication when the grease is substantially exhausted from the pump,

when the containeris refilled with grease or lubricant so that assoo'n as it has been thus re filled the dispenser is in condition to be oper- 32 ated.

invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described after which; the novel feat comprlslng the upper section l3 on which '.the gear '10 is mounted, the tubular section 85' dis asection on the linefd d, Fig, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view through the operating shaft;

In the drawings 1 indicates acontainer' adapted to contain grease lubricant or sim ilar material, 7 said container being the form of a cylindrical drum having anopening 2 1n one end. "Situated within the consuch indication being in the form of a lock or stop which arrests the action of the map. I have also provided means wherev r p tion'relates' to a novel means 'forgivmg the bv this lock orstopis automatically released In order to give a understanding the .i 'line. e V

square 1n cross sectionand the tubularsecround throughoutthe wall of thecontainer and communicates with a delivery pipe which may be flexible if" desired, this beinga common construction.

, tainris a pump 3 which may be ofany suit I of that type comprising a container for hold able type but will preferably bein the'nature of .a gear pump. This pump has an inlet In the device herein shown the pumpis operated through a vertically-extending shaft 6 which is actuated from a crank handle 7 situated outside of the container.

which carries atone end a bevel gear 9 that meshes with anotherbevel 1 gear 10; on the i crank handle is 'shown as fastona shaft 8 V upper end of the. shaft 6. The shaft 8 and, gears are housed in a closure or cover member 11 whichmay be applied to the top. ofthe containerl and which closes the'opening 2,

said closure being retained in position by suitable clamping s crewjs;l2," of which" only one is shown. I

As stated above one feature of myinvenf operator indication when the. grease or'luvbricant isnearly exhausted-from the'container, such indication being given by the.

struction by whichthe pump is freed for operation when the containeris'refilled.

The operating shaft 6 is a sectional shaft,

14 and the lower section'15 which extends into and to which one of, the

t e s pu p 3 The shaftfsectio'n 13 is gears is secured.

tion 1a is also square in cross section The lower end of the shaft 13 fits into the-upper end of the tubular'section Hand these two.

sections are secured together by'means of a pin 16.

The lower end of the tubular section 14 which is provided with a square head 17 at bular section telescopes over the shaft section 15 which is j most of its length but 18 is a spring enclosed within the tubular section and confined between the section 13 and the head 17.

Slidably mounted on the tubular section 1 1 is a float member 19, the latter having a square opening through which the square section 14: extends-so that said float member is compelled to rotate with the shaft but is capable of having a sliding motion longitudinallythereof.

Rigid with the float member19'is a: blade member 20 which is shaped so that as it is rotated by the shaft when the latter isoperating the pump, said blade tendsto force the grease downwardly toward the pump inlet 4, the purpose ofthe blade being, to ensure that a proper supply of grease is alw. ys 'inai'nt'ai'ned at the inlet end of the pump.

The gear 10 at the upper end of the shaft section 13 is provided with a square opening 'to. receive said shaft and it is withdrawable from the shaft. when the cover plate 11' is removed. v

The shaft section is provided with a pin 21 with: which the hub of the gear 10 engages when. the cover 11 is in place and the gear is assembled with the shaft as shown in Fig.1, and when the parts are. in. this position the shaft is in its lowered position and the. spring, 18' is somewhat compressed, the

lower end of thesleeve 14 coming nearly to the top offthe. pump casing. This is the position-.ofthe parts when the device is in use and so long as there is a quantity of grease or lubricantin the container-,1, as-f'or instance if the. level of the grease therein was such as indicated by the dotted line 22, the buoyant quality of the float 19, which in such case would. be immersed. in the grease, would-tend to cause the. float to rise,.and would maintain the float-again st the pin 16 by which the shaft sections 13. and 1/1 connected. This position of the. float. is further ensured by the operation of] the blade 20 for whenever the pump is operated the rotative movement of below-the float 19 and blade 20 then the float andblade will descenchwith the. falling grease level. andlwill. gradually approach the dotted line positioninFignl... I 1

Means are provided whereby when the grease or lubricant has become sofar BX? hausted from the. container as to, make. it.

likely that the grease or. lubricant. will not be properly fed to the pump'inlet the action of the pump will be automatically arrested. and this is accomplished by providing a stop I finger 24 on the inside of the container 1 which is situated to be engaged by one end of the blade 20 as the latter rotates when said blade has descended into substantially the dotted line position Fig. 1.

Since the blade is rigid with the float and the float is arranged to rotate with the shaft 6 the engagement of the blade with the finger 21 will'arrest the rotation of the shaft and thus stopthe operation of. thepumpt lVhen.

this-occurs the container is ready to be refilled and the refilling operation is accomplished'by removing the cover 11 with the op cover 11 isin place the shaft section 13 is held depressed and the spring 18 is consequently compressed. -VVhen the cover 11 is removed together with the. gear 10 the spring 18c pands and 'liftsthe shaft section2 upwardly as shown in Fig. 3.

Since the tubular shaft section 14f is connected'to the shaft section 13"said tubular section will" partake of'this spring impelled'upward movementv and the tubular section 1 1 will be forced up through the blade andfloat. The upward movement ofthe shaft is limited by one or more screws 25 that are screw threaded'through the lower end of the tubular section 14' as shown in Fig. 4e and the points 26of which. project into the tubular section somewhat and arethusin a positionto engage the under side of the head 17 The engagement of these screws with the head 17 of the shaft section 15 limits the upward spring-impelled movement of-the-shaft sections 13 and '14., During the latter part of this upward movement the. heads of the screws25, engage. the center portion of the blade 20 and thus-raise the blade and float from the dotted line position Fig. 1 to the full line position Fig. 3. This upward movement of' the. blade frees it from the stop finger 24and' thus-releases the pump shaft for further operation.

After thedesired amountof grease or. 111 bricantlhas been deposited in the container 1 then the cover 11 may be replaced, in doing which. the gear10rwill be inserted over the upper. end of-the shaft section 13. The engagement of the hub of the gear with-the pin 21..will. depress the shaft section and thus compress the spring 18. During the downward movement of this shaft section it will be forced. through the float member. and blade leavingqthem' in their elevated positainer will automatically release the pump' thus placing it again in condition for further operation.

I claim:

1. In a grease dispenser, the combination with a container open at the top, of a pump therein for dispensing grease'therefrom, a

of the pump when the greasein the container approaches exhaustion, and a spring operative when the closure is removed to render said stop means inoperative.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

removable closure for the top, pump-operating mechanism carried thereby, means pump when the grease in the container approaches exhaustion, and means for rendering the last-named means inoperative when the closure'is removed.

2. In a grease dispenser, the combination with a container open at the top, of a pump therein, a removable closure for the top, pump-operating mechanism carried therebv, an agitating blade operating simultaneously with the pump, means for automatically arresting the movement of said blade and thus stopping the pumowhen the grease in the container approaches exhaustion, and means to release the blade from the blade-arresting means when the closure is removed. 7

3. In a grease dispenser, the combination with a container open at the top, of a pump therein, a removable closure for the top, pump-operating mechanism carried thereby, means for automatically arresting the operation of the pump when the grease in the con-' tainer approaches exhaustion, a spring nor mally tending to release theipump, which spring is held inoperative by the closure when the latter is in its operative position.

for 1 automatically arresting the operation of the 4:. In a grease dispenser, the combination with a container open at the top, of a'pump therein, a removable closure for the top, pump-operating mechanism carried by the closure, an agitating blade connected to the pump-operating-mechanism and adapted to agitate the grease and force the latter toward the pump inlet, stop means to arrest the movement of said blade when the grease in the containerapproaches exhaustion, and a spring normally held inoperative by the closure when it is in place but operating automatically when the closure is removed OSCAR TERVO. 

